November 12, 2009
Yearbooks on sale now for $25.00 online at www.jostens.com
Vaughan's Mission Statement--
Our mission at Vaughan is to work as a community to meet the diverse learning
needs of students in order to prepare them for success in a global economy.
We are excited to provide additional time for math enrichment for our
students. We are reorganizing our schedule to include an additional 45 minute
block. This will allow us to focus on math standards on which our students
need additional support as well as provide extension activities for those
students who are proficient but are ready to engage in activities that
stretch the learning. Please see our attached schedule for details.
SOMETHING NEW: EVERY THIRD GRADER WILL BE BRINGING HOME A MATH GAME TO PLAY
EACH NIGHT. THE GAME WILL BE THE SAME GAME FOR ONE WEEK. WE ARE ASKING THAT
YOU PLAY THE GAME WITH YOUR CHILD, BUT IT IS POSSIBLE FOR HIM OR HER TO PLAY
ALONE. IT SHOULD TAKE ABOUT 10 MINUTES EACH NIGHT. THERE WILL BE A SIGNATURE
SHEET THAT WILL NEED TO BE SIGNED EVERY NIGHT TO SHOW THAT YOUR CHILD HAS
PLAYED THE GAME. THANK YOU FOR YOUR COOPERATION.
Reminders:
We are really focusing on Math Problem Solving in class and we would like the
children exposed to it at home as well. Once a week for math homework you
will find a problem-solving folder come home with your child. The problem
they are to solve will be stuck to the page where they will solve the
problem. After your child has made the attempt to solve the problem, please
sit with them and work through the steps/strategies in order to support their
understanding of problem solving.
Please remember we need you to sign agendas each night. It is your child's
responsbility to ask you to sign the agenda every night and write down what
they read during the week and get you to sign that. You only need to sign
Behavior sheets if your child gets a check during the week. We need the
students reading up to 90 minutes this 2nd 9 weeks. We figured this ended up
being about 15 minutes a day or more time, if your child is not reading every
night.
Please remember the children need to wear or bring tennis shoes on PE days.
Our New Schedule--
7:15 – 7:50 Unpack and Begin Morning Work
7:55 – 8:15 Math RAP
8:15 – 9:05 Reading Workshop (Science and Social Studies integrated)
9:05 – 10:00 Math
10:00 - 10:50 Specials
10:50 – 11:30 Language Arts
11:36 – 12:06 Lunch
12:10 – 12:30 Recess and Study Hall
12:30 – 1:15 M/W/F Math Enrichment Tu/Th Writer's Workshop
1:15 – 2:00 M/W/F Writer's Workshop Tu/Th Science and Social Studies Ext.
2:00 – 2:10 Read-Aloud
2:10 – 2:18 Pack-up and Dismissal
Calendar of Events--
(Chicken biscuits on sale every Tuesday morning for $2.50 each)
Important Upcoming Dates:
November 11, 2009 End of 4 1/2 weeks
November 19, 2009 Progress Reports coming home
November 23-27th Thanksgiving Holiday
November 19, 2009 Last Day to purchase tickets for Breakfast with Santa
December 5, 2009 Reindeer Run and Breakfast with Santa
WHAT DID WE LEARN THIS WEEK
Reading: Unit EQ: How do a I read and comprehend fictional text? How do I
use text features to determine unfamiliar words? We continued using text
features this week to help us find important information. We used our main
ideas to write summaries.
Writer's Workshop: How do I write a Response to Literature? The children have
been writing independently on their book reviews. We have also been learning
more about revising them ourselves, as well as, peer editing and revising.
The children then conference with Mr. Massey or myself. They will publish
their book reviews by creating a back cover layout complete with images.
Grammar: How do I identify plural nouns? This week we have finished our
plural noun books and learned the rules we need to know to make nouns plural.
Friday we will use our plural noun books to take a short assessment to make
sure we have the skills we need.
Spelling: No Spelling next week
Math: Unit EQ: How does multiplication affect numbers?
We have been really focusing on our multiplication strategies. Please have
your child practice their multiplication facts as we begin to move into
multiplication and division. The children are required to know their
multiplication facts for 0-10 this 9 weeks. This is a Third grade standard.
EQ: How do I apply problem solving strategies to multiplication word
problems? We have introduced problem solving folders to the students. Their
folders have strategies in them that we will be focusing on this year. At
this point, the students have been using the "draw a picture" strategy
and "make a chart or diagram" with great success. As they develop the other
strategies, they will become better prepared for the CRCT.IF A STUDENT CAN
EXPLAIN TO YOU WHAT THEY DID TO SOLVE A PROBLEM, THEN THEY ARE DISPLAYING A
GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF THE CONCEPT. During MATH RAP and regular math time
we have focused on problem solving using our strategies.
Science:
EQ: How does water affect different types of soils?
EQ: How do rocks and soil change over time?
Our students are experimenting with which types of soil absorbs water the
best. Please discuss the recent flood with your scholar to help them connect
what we discuss in class with the real world around them. Erosion and
weathering are concepts tht we will be learning a great deal about in the
next week or so. Many students confuse these terms and ofter refer to them
as the same idea. Weathering is the process by which rock and/or break down
into smaller particles. However, erosion is the process of those particles
MOVING from one place to another because of natural forces such as flowing
water, wind, or moving ice (glaciers). Please seek out examples of
weathering and erosion this week, so your child will have a better
understanding of each concept.
Study for the unit test, which will be on Thursday, November 19th.
